SoI Was Thinking
by Agnes Green
Summary: Off late her thoughts of James Potter had drifted into a fairly romantic direction—dangerous territory in her opinion... especially now, since he had no interest in her whatsoever


**a/n my recent fling with writers bloc has led me in yet another direction. so far i like where this is going and i hope you do as well **

**Disclaimer: I do not claim rights to any of the characters used in this story. they all come from the wonderful imagination of Ms. J.K. Rowling... that is...other than the characters that i DID come up with.**

**Also, sorry if any of them are too OOC ish. i tried really hard to stick to their profile. **

**The basic exercise of this piece was to explore the developing relationship of Lilly and James and how it made that very difficult transition from friends to more than friends. It was fun to write and i hope you have fun reading it as well. **

**enjoy~ **

**So I Was Thinking**

"So I was thinking— "

She snorted at this, "You, thinking? That's a good one."

"Stop interrupting this very rare brain wave that I'm having, Lils." He scowled at her.

"Alright. What were you thinking?"

"That maybe we should do something for Moony's birthday." James brought his hand to his chin and scratched it thoughtfully.

"Like what?" Sirius mumbled without turning away from the window he was looking out of. Lily scowled in his direction: no doubt he was staring at some poor unsuspecting girls who were lying out in the afternoon sun. Although, Lily couldn't help but note, their choice of sun dappled lawn just happened to be a patch that was the closest to the Gryffindor boy's dormitory. Maybe they weren't so unsuspecting then?

"Like a party. We haven't really done anything for him you know?" he paused and seemed to consider something, "Not anything on nearly as grand a scale as _our_ birthdays anyway."

Lily knew she –just like Peter – was not included in that plural. James and Sirius shared a love for anything that made them the center of attention. "How very generous of you." She drawled and she turned the page of her book lazily.

"This is true" Sirius went on as if she hadn't spoken. "What did you have in mind Mr. Potter?"

Lily looked up in wonder. The extravagance that they were planning was a little shocking! But she realized that she wasn't shocked at all. Which was really the most shocking thing of all. Here she was, on a perfectly good Saturday afternoon, bumming it with James Potter and Sirius Black (of all the people on the planet!). She was sprawled out on James' bed, flipping through one his many Quidditch magazines; occasionally exclaiming over the looks of some athlete or the other. James was at his desk with his legs propped up: the snitch he was playing with now pointedly forgotten as he sketched out party details on a spare piece of parchment. Sirius maintained his spot at the window, although his attention was now fully on James. A year ago this afternoon would have been an unimaginable horror to Lily. A year ago she would not have voluntarily ventured within a hundred feet of "Potter and his freaks" as she had so affectionately called them—with the exception of Remus. She had always liked Remus. Today however, she didn't mind it so much.

"What do you think?" it took her a moment to realize that there was a pair of hazel eyes that were staring very intently at her.

"Think about what?" she decided to flip another page and stopped to gawk at the current Seeker of the Year.

"Would you like a tissue Red? There's some drool collecting on your chin." Sirius chortled.

"He's absolutely beautiful." She felt dazed. "What a body!"

"I don't appreciate you treating my fellow athletes like pieces of meat." James sounded miffed but she didn't look up to see if his expression matched his tone.

"They shouldn't be so delicious looking if they don't want to be treated like pieces of meat." She argued but gave him her attention anyway, and laughed at his look of repulsion. "What were you talking about?"

"We were thinking of a party after hours in the common room for starters—" Sirius started.

"Where his best mates Prongs and Padfoot will make sure he gets some action—" James inserted.

"Which will be followed by something fantastic that each of us plan for our favorite werewolf." Sirius finished.

"Sirius will go first because he's done thinking of his task." James prompted.

"Picture this!" he stepped dramatically off the window and spread his arms out in a true Shakespearean manner. It made her laugh. "There we are, under the cloak of the midnight sky, bordering the realm of the forbidden —just the seven of us" he was referring to the Marauders, herself, Evalena and Clare; she knew, "armed only with our wits and as many water balloons we can fill in a half hour. NO magic allowed."

"Personally, I think it's a bloody brilliant idea." James nodded in appreciation.

"Of course you would." Lily would have rolled her eyes had she not been so intrigued. She was currently propped up on her elbows paying very close attention to where this was going, while simultaneously thinking of ways to better any of the ideas that they could come up with.

"The games shall begin as soon as the party ends. No resting allowed. Prongs and I will make sure that all of us party just as hard as the other so that we are all on an equal playing field. Brooms are allowable if you are sober enough to make it to the brooms."

"Why isn't Peter making sure that we are all at the same party level?" Lily asked curiously.

"Because, Lily dearest, that's just the way it is." James shrugged. "Mr. Black and I always handle matters concerning alcoholic beverages. Or have you forgotten the Firewiskey Debacle at the sixth year just-for-the-hell-of-it extravaganza?"

"That was a dark day for the Marauders indeed." Sirius shook his head ruefully.

She remembered the "debacle" quite clearly, as she hadn't been quite as inebriated as poor Peter had been. He was doing quite well at the start of the evening; he even got a rather pretty blond to dance (quite suggestively) with him for most of the night. But by his tenth shot he ended up hurling all over the girl and had to be ushered out rather unceremoniously by the two boys she was currently talking to. She guessed that Sirius thought it a dark day because neither he nor James had gotten lucky that night, having spent all of it cleaning Peter up. It was also the first of the many Marauder parties that she had willingly attended—something of a commemoration of her new found friendship with James. That's what he had used to get her to go to the party, anyway. She laughed heartily at the memory. "What was your plan? Will you be following Sirius' war?"

"Well we were thinking that Peter could go next. He would appreciate that." James smiled fondly.

"And of course Clare can go last. I'm sure _she _would appreciate that." Sirius snorted. It was no secret that Clare held a little flame for the mild mannered birthday boy, and it was no secret that he more than reciprocated her feelings. Why neither of them had acted on their feelings was something that was completely unknown. Lily guessed (correctly, she suspected) that this was their little attempt at forcing the two to have some quality time together. The activities, after all, did not necessarily have to involve the whole group.

"I'm going to guess that Lena will want to go after Peter. And I'm going to guess that she's going to want to play a game of Quidditch and insist that she let the boys win because its Moony's birthday." Sirius shook his head.

"Oh I know she will. She hasn't gotten over the last defeat." Lily qualified dutifully as she flipped another page. "She won't go down without a fight though."

"That just leaves the two of us." James nodded in her direction. She blushed a little at his choice of words and was thankful that her hair was in her face. "I don't really mind when I go. You can pick first."

"I don't really mind either. I haven't really thought of anything." She was still distracted. Off late her thoughts of James Potter had drifted into a fairly romantic direction—dangerous territory in her opinion. She was adamant to keep her feelings for the Head Boy completely platonic. The fact that he had grown out of most of his immaturity and deviant ways only served to make the situation more annoying. He was almost exactly what she wanted in a man now; now that he had no interest in her whatsoever. She frowned a little at that.

"No need to think that hard, Red." Sirius chucked a wad of parchment at her and she shot him a furious glare, thankful that he had guessed incorrectly about the source of her frown.

"I want to do something really amazing for him" she chewed on her lip. Remus was her favorite person out of all of her friends. He was her saving grace in DADA, 'cause Merlin knew that she was awful at it. And he was the perfect ear when she had a problem. His counsel was always sensible and he always steered her in the right direction. She thought of him as the doting older brother that she had never had. "What do you think he would like?"

No one answered however as Sirius' stomach had growled rather nastily. "I don't know about him, but I know what I would like right about now." Without another word he stalked out of the room and to the kitchens. His hunger was not something that he took lightly. It was surprising that he had let it get to the point of his stomach growling for him to look for a snack. That was almost unheard of. She was about to say something when she realized just how alone they were, for indeed they were. The dorms were completely deserted, as was the common room as well as the hallways— she was willing to wager—for the beautifully sunny day had drawn most of the castle's inhabitants outside. The room was warm and a cool breeze passed through at a languorous pace from the now unobstructed window. She could hear the faint lapping of the water in the lake and the rustling of the leaves on the trees that dotted the campus. It was so silent. She scrunched her toes contentedly and flipped another page.

"Why don't we team up?" his voice was soft, barely above a whisper, as if he could sense that she was enjoying the quiet. Or maybe he was as well.

"Can't think of anything either huh?" she grinned at him and he grinned back. She regretted it at once when her stomach did a strange flop and she felt her heart beat flutter.

"Not anything that won't get him in trouble." He was still grinning. "So far all I have is: streaking through the castle, raiding Slughorn's potions cabinet and wreaking havoc with the stolen goods, and taking a brooms-eye tour of London."

"That's brilliant!" Her eyes were practically glowing.

"You would streak through the castle?" he sounded a little excited at the prospect.

"Not that bit. Going out to London. Wonderful idea! And Slughorn's cabinet would be a piece of cake for me to get into. I am his favorite student after all." she gloated a little, happy to finally have a non-academic use for the privileges that went with her title. "Wreak havoc and then escape to London where we can ditch him and Clare for a romantic night by themselves! Oh it's perfect!"

"Are you sure you're Lillian Evans? Because I swear you look just like her but you don't sound like her one bit." He had one eyebrow raised apprehensively at her. Clearly this was not the reaction he was expecting from her. Good. She wanted to show him that she wasn't the stick in the mud everyone seemed to think she was. She could keep up with him and his antics just as well as Remus or Peter or Sirius could… ok, maybe not Sirius, but definitely Remus and Peter.

"You know, I thought you would appreciate my disregard for the rules, but if you would rather that I write you up for what you are planning, then by all means let me know." she huffed indignantly. He laughed and she couldn't help but think of velvet: soft and smooth. "So what do you say?"

"I say that this collaboration just might be the best collaboration in the history of collaborative events!" he stood up suddenly and held his hand out to her.

"Don't tell Black that, he might get a little upset." She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet.

"Oh, I'm sure a pretty blond or brunette will make him forget all about my treason." He led her out the door and they joined Sirius in the kitchens.

He was methodically stuffing his face with roast beef, potatoes and string beans when they walked up to him. "Glad to see you decided to join me." He threw them a lopsided grin. "You got done snogging a lot sooner than I would have guessed."

"Don't be a git, Padfoot." James chuckled as he took a seat and prepared to gorge himself.

"We have an idea!" Lily was still too anxious to even bother with scolding Sirius; which was a good thing because he seemed interest by her out of character behavior. His quirked eyebrow prompted her to continue. "James and I would like to team up for our portion of the birthday. That gives us more time and a more fluid entry into Clare's part of the night. Although we did sort of decide her activity for her." She broke off from her original thought as the new problem presented itself. "I don't think she'll mind too much. Do you think she'll mind James?"

"No" he mumbled out between mouthfuls, "we should tell her what to expect though. Or maybe we should just spring it on both of them!"

"Oh, I would love to do that!" Lily cried gleefully. "But it seems rather unfair. Plus, I think that would make her much too awkward, and she might not be inclined to initiate anything."

"True." James mused. "I don't particularly fancy being yelled at by Moony, either."

"Would someone tell me what the bloody hell you two are blabbering on about?" Sirius shot an indignant and lightly distrusting look at the two of them. Lily recognized the emotion and smirked.

"Jealous Sirius?" she goaded him as she piled a generous helping of stuffing into her plate.

"No" at least he had the decency to blush. She laughed at this and let James fill Sirius in on their plan. "Damn" was all he said after. "You really up to thievery Red? I didn't think you would have it in you." He seemed to regard her with a new respect and she took it willingly.

"Why thank you Mr. Black. That was very decent of you." She beamed at him and nibbled on her piece of bread.

They spent the rest of the afternoon collecting as many bottles and people as they could manage—which happened to be quite a lot (who knew the innocent Frank Longbottom had a secret stash!) and Lily was not surprised at all by the turn out. It was a Marauder party after all. When the reason was stated they had more and more volunteers to help with getting the common room ready. Remus, it seemed, was rather well liked. This made Lily feel quite proud which made her want the party to be even more perfect. They had enlisted Clare to keep Remus occupied and Peter was put on watch duty till the time was right. Lena, as they had guessed, wanted a re-match and had recruited Clare, Lilly and one of the other girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team to help her with her cause. This was understandable, but why Lena had made her accept the part of chaser was beyond her comprehension. Lily mused over her impending injuries as she industriously hung streamers all along the common room walls.

"Nice work." She jumped a little at the sound of his voice but gathered herself before she turned around to see him smiling at her. He ran his hand through his messy hair—a habit she had come to like very much—as he came to stand next to her.

"I thought so too." She wasn't so ready to accept his complement. "Until I realized that I'm going to have to take this all down."

"We'll help!" Peter piped in as he handed Lily some more streamers. "I love projects."

"You love alcohol." James laughed as he pushed a chair into a more desirable spot.

"Ah, you caught me." Peter grinned cheekily and turned to Lily. "I really have no idea what to do with my time for the birthday. How am I supposed to compete with all the stuff you guys have planned?" he sighed loudly.

"What if we brainstormed for a bit?" Lily offered. She felt somewhat maternal around Peter. It wasn't that he was defenseless or anything, she just felt like he needed to be protected. The boys were relentless to him, and she didn't like it. She had never liked it when anyone was teased and Peter was usually the butt of jokes. She made sure that it didn't happen when she was around and he seemed grateful for it. "Maybe we could come up with something. I mean I can't exactly take credit for the London thing. That was all James' idea."

"Ugh! He's always so creative!" Peter screwed up his face into a friendly scowl. "I bet this whole birthday thing is his idea too huh?"

"Yeah, it is actually." She hadn't actually registered that fact till now. She looked over at James who was directing the flow of food to the refreshment table and couldn't believe that this James was the same arrogant prat that had plagued most of her years at Hogwarts; the same toerag that had caused her to lose a very dear friend her fifth year; the same dimwit who had…who had let her cry herself senseless into his shoulder when she found out her father would not make it through the year; who had apologized on numerous occasions about the way things had worked out between her and Severus because he was convinced that it was somehow his fault; who had kept to his word and had left her alone for most of the last year while she worked out her issues; and who welcomed her gladly when she needed a friend. She sighed in defeat. She had sorely misjudged James Potter. He was not arrogant or conceited—ok maybe he was, but then again so was she! She had been up on her high horse for so long that she didn't realize that the things she had accused him of were not exactly things she was innocent of. He was, however, a much better friend to his mates than she had ever been to Severus. She remembered this with a pang. The fifth year, it seemed, was the turning point for all of them. She had opened her eyes to James' generosity, her idiocy and Sev's selfishness. Not that she didn't still love Severus; quite the contrary in fact. One didn't just forget friendships that had lasted as long as theirs had. It was just that Severus had wanted very different things—things that she could not and would not be a part of. James for all his immaturity had a lot more integrity than her former best friend. She was both pleased and saddened by this. If only James and Sev could set their differences aside they would have seen how very much they could have benefited from each other. She wished she could still be Sev's friend—and she still was in many unspoken ways—but she refused to affiliate herself with the filth that he seemed intent on being a part of. James was a breath of fresh air for her. She was utterly lost her sixth year, and even if all she did was yell at him, he was still always there for her. He didn't like Severus, but he respected her enough to feel badly about what he did. He had not tried to mend the friendship, but had promised never to harm him, unless it was in self-defense.

"A butterbeer for your thoughts?" she looked up briefly to see a bottle being held out in front of her. She laughed at Peter's twist on the adage and accepted the bottle.

"It looks good doesn't it?" she glanced around at their handiwork.

"Sure does. So did you come up with anything yet?" he took a sip of his own drink and regarded her carefully. He went on when she didn't answer. "I was thinking that I would set up a breakfast or something else low key, seeing how my time slot is between Sirius's war and Lena's match." He looked her way again looking for her reaction.

"That's perfect Peter!" Lily smiled at him. "I hadn't thought of how exhausted we would be. It will be the perfect time to rest and get some food in our systems. Did you have anything particular in mind?"

"I was thinking of heading out to the kitchens and picking up some sandwiches and heading down to the tree on the edge of the lake—the one that he likes best. But I don't know. I'm afraid that they'll make fun of me for it."

"Nonsense! I won't let them. I think it's a perfectly lovely idea." She gushed. "But, you could always sneak the food up to your dorm room, that way no one will have to change or anything. Sort of like a brunch in bed?" she suggested.

"See this is why I talk to you!" he beamed at her. "I'll go let the house elves know." With that he was off to the kitchens.

It was already 11:58 pm and the anticipation in the air was something like a drug to her system. She was standing the closest to the portal hole, waiting impatiently for Clare to swing open the portrait so that the festivities could begin.

"Nearly here." Sirius whispered as he glanced down at the map in his hand discretely. Lena came over to grab Lily's hand and they both smiled at each other through the darkness. The excitement was infectious and it was growing by the second. "Five, four, three, two…"

And right on cue the door was swung open. "It's so dark in here! I suppose they forgot to light the torches" the deceptively innocent voice of Clare Varner floated in through the portal.

"That's odd…" it was Remus this time. "Let me see if I can find the nearest lamp. _Luminos!_" the moment he uttered the word the torches all fluttered to life, surprising him nearly as much as the chorus of 'Happy Birthday Remus' which was led officiously by James, Peter and Sirius.

Lily smiled widely at the look of horror on his face. She knew why too. James had picked a wolf theme for the party. It wasn't exactly the most tasteful thing to do, but it had to be done. It was just one of those things that could not have been passed up. She saw Clare lean over and whisper her own wishes to Remus and peck him lightly on his cheek. This was followed immediately with everyone erupting in loud applause and Remus being hoisted onto Sirius's and Frank Longbottom's shoulders.

"And now that you are here and trapped," James started "Lets PARTY!" and the whole common room was engulfed in music and laughter and dancing and –and just everything that Lily could have ever wanted from a party. Remus was paraded around the room till everyone had wished him a happy birthday and was only set down when he was back in the front of the room.

"Lupin, my man!" Frank smiled at him "Hope you didn't mind me carrying you around like that."

"Not at all Longbottom." Remus smiled nervously.

"Happy birthday Remus" Alice, Frank's girlfriend, leaned over and gave Remus a hug.

"Remus!" this time it was Lena. She bounded over when she noticed that he had been set down. "Happy BIRTHDAY!" she crushed him in a quick hug before she made her way back to the firewhiskey.

"Remus?" Lily ventured tentatively.

"Lily!" he beamed at her and she found her courage again. "I expect you had something to do with this as well?" He gestured around the room with a low whistle. "They would never have done such a neat job with the streamers."

"Only the best for you." She smiled broadly at him and hugged him affectionately. "Have fun tonight, alright? I'll be very disappointed if you don't."

"Of course he'll have fun Lils." Sirius scoffed at her. "What a silly request to make. Now Moony, I would like to introduce you to my new favorite Muggle beverage: Vodka!"

Remus rolled his eyes and let himself be led away. "You have fun tonight too. Or _I'll _be really disappointed." He smiled at her over his shoulder before he disappeared into the crowed.

That was exactly what she intended to do. James and Sirius kept true to their word and made sure that they were all on the same playing field. She and Clare were allowed to limit themselves to five shots a piece. Peter was cut off at seven. Lena kept up a good fight till number eight. Remus didn't seem to have taken any damage at number fourteen but politely stepped out. James and Sirius on the other hand were on shot number nineteen and obviously trying to best the other. Lily wondered vaguely if she would save them if they keeled over with alcohol poisoning. Thankfully they stopped at twenty. Everyone laughed as they stumbled around the room with Frank in tow, singing the Gryffindor fight song at the top of their lungs.

The music was infectious and Lily found herself giggling along with Clare at the very center of the dance circle as they swayed drunkenly to the beat. The crowed was already starting to thin out, not that anyone noticed.

"This is the best party I've been to, to date!" Clare cried above the loud bass.

"I completely agree. This is going to be the best _weekend_ to date!" she surrendered herself to another fit of giggles. "You better make the most of the alone time we're sending your way!"

"Lily, I don't know…" she trailed off with a blush. "No. You're right. I might as well. And you all put so much of thought into it. It's the least I can do, I suppose."

"That's the spirit!" Lily caught her by the shoulders in a spur of affection and hugged her and they both nearly collapsed from the laughter that had bubbled up thought their throats.

"I'm glad to see you ladies are enjoying yourselves."

"Remus!" they both exclaimed at the same time and Lily shot a look over to Sirius who switched the record for a much slower ballad. "You may as well dance since you're both standing here." She grinned at the two blushing teens before her as she turned to make her way to the sidelines.

"And we may as well dance since we're both here." She didn't really have an opportunity to reject her would be dance partner because he caught her firmly by the waist and spun her back into the circle. "So how are you Lily-flower?"

"Quite well, thank you Mr. Potter." She smiled back, trying unsuccessfully to hide the blush that their proximity had brought on.

"Not too drunk to lose us the war now, are you?" he regarded her solemnly, which made her giggle in the most embarrassingly girlish manner. "You're on my team, if you didn't know. Sirius is probably going to tag along, unless he wants to be a lone operator and claim glory all for himself." He had drifted closer to her and she had to look up to meet his eyes. She laced her hands behind his neck and he held firmly onto her waist. She couldn't help but lose herself a little as he guided them along at a sensuous pace.

"That hardly seems fair to everyone else if _we're _on the same team. We'll obviously pulverize them" She nodded, and it was his turn to laugh. She didn't know if it was the alcohol or not but his voice sounded impossibly smoother, and softer: like it was almost tangible. She could feel his laugh wrap around her and smother her senses ever so delicately. It had slipped past her ears down her arms and all the way to her toes before she realized that she had closed her eyes and was smiling broadly. She blinked them open lazily only to see his eyes staring down at her (closer than she remembered them being before) with the most curious electricity that seemed to be passing through his irises.

"I'm warning you Lillian Evans, if you fall asleep on me now you will regret it for the rest of your life." He smirked.

And then she made a mistake.

"I wasn't sleeping just now," she said, quite without thinking about what she was saying. "I was only thinking about how nice your laugh sounded." She smiled a little. "It's very smooth—silky almost. I like it."

He looked at her like she had grown another head and waited for her to process her little speech.

"Oh!" she cried, and he laughed at her boisterously.

"I should get you drunk more often, I see." He winked down at her. "You seem to be more inclined to let out little declarations of affection in this state." He laughed again at her blush.

"That's not what I meant at all!" she protested, trying desperately to fix the situation.

"I'm sure it's not." He grinned at her in much the same fashion he used to when they were so much younger. It annoyed her to no end back then, and it still did, but for a much different reason now. And as if to accentuate her new hatred for the grin, her stomach burst into a flutter of nervous wings and she felt her heart race at an alarming rate. She settled for a scowl, for she did not trust herself to speak and allowed herself to be traded to Sirius for the next dance as James made himself quite cozy with a blushing fifth year.

"Ah, l'amour."

"Shut up Sirius." She made a sour face. Of course he would be the first and so far only one to figure out that she was crushing on James. She was really hoping that it would be Remus…or even Lena really…but no, it had to be Sirius. She knew that she would see no end to the merciless torture he had already begun to inflict on her.

"Look at my man getting his flirt on!" he gushed like a proud parent. Lilly looked against her better judgment. What she saw made her insides bubble with an emotion she did not have too much practice with. She had never ever before in her life wanted so badly to rip another girls head off. But the pretty little fifth year who was giggling oh so delicately at something (probably a bad joke that didn't even garner a smile) that James had said was starting to look like a very good candidate for the head ripping. She snapped up when she heard Sirius' mocking laugh. Guffaw was actually a better word. He was practically leaning on her so he wouldn't fall over in spasms. "I never thought I would see the day!" he wheezed out when he had stopped long enough to speak. She waited patiently. "How the tables have turned, my short-tempered friend." He grinned at her but turned her away from the sight that was slowly causing her mind to fog over.

"Stop it." she would have said something more colorful, but she felt so miserable.

"You know what you should do?" he said thoughtfully and she made the mistake of looking up at him. "You should hook up with some bloke and make _him_ jealous. And look at your luck! I'm a bloke, and I would be more than willing to hook up with you." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her and she backed away in repulsion.

"Never in a million years, Black." She shot him a reproachful look.

"_Only_ a million? I can wait." Again, he laughed at her discomfort

"Piss off."

"When I have the intense pleasure of watching your face gradually match your hair? Never!"

"Don't you have someone to go shag or something right now." She tried to sound as casual as she could. It would not do her any good to lose her temper in front of Sirius Black. For one, he did not react to her anger the way normal people did—all he did was laugh even harder as her anger rose in degrees—so it was best to stay calm and let him ride out his jokes.

"Actually, I'm going to be abstaining from my favorite pastime tonight because this is Remus' night… and more specifically because I am not going to miss the chance to pummel him with water balloons. His hair does the funniest things when it's wet!" he sniggered to himself.

She had to smile at his determination. As much as he irritated her and as much as she would have liked to impale him; Lily would not have liked Sirius quite so much had he been any other way. He was still the same handsome, charming, flirtatious, ignorant prick that she had known from what seemed like a past life, only now she had a few redeeming qualities to tack onto his name. For one, he was very brave. The fact that he stood up to his family for something that he believed was right was proof enough of that. He said that he didn't miss his parents or his siblings because they were never a real family to him anyway, but Lily knew better. No matter how horrid a family member is to you, they are still family. And families are supposed to stick together, no matter what. Sirius was upset at being disowned, but the Potters had taken him in, so his sadness was limited only to a very lightly bruised ego. He was quite smart as well. No one knew this, of course, because they just assumed that his vagrant behavior reflected on his grades; but Sirius was actually among the top ten of their entire year. The top three spots belonged to Remus, James and Lily, respectively. She was quite shocked when she learned this, but off late, she was starting to realize that there was a lot more to him than she had initially given him credit for. For all of his womanizing and debauchery, Sirius Black was a really good person and a great friend and she had grown to like him a great deal. But, of course, she would never actually admit any of this to him. Just like he would never admit that he was secretly quite fond of her as well. Theirs was a relationship of friendly animosity, and they were both quite content with it staying that way.

"It's time." A voice muttered solemnly in Lily's ear. She turned around to see Peter giving her a grave look that seemed somewhat misplaced considering the implication behind his statement. "Everyone's gone."

"Excellent!" Sirius beamed as he scanned the now (partially) empty common room. "Well, everyone except for James' fifth year." Lily shot a dark look at him as he nudged her lightly.

"Oy, Prongs!" he called over to James who seemed to be listening intently so something the fifth year was saying. "Wrap it up, mate, it's time to go." Saying so, he grabbed Lily by the waist and strolled out the portrait. Lily caught the look of confusion and disappointment that flashed across the fifth year's face and felt incredibly pleased with herself.

They were huddled in a circle at the entrance of the prefect's bathroom when James had caught up to them. She made it a point not to look over at him but couldn't help stealing a glance in his direction. The disapproving look that he threw Sirius made her frown. Of course he would be upset; Sirius had cost him the fifth year.

"He's mad about _this_." Sirius corrected softly— as if he had read her mind— and squeezed the arm that was still around her waist to qualify his point.

"Oh." She looked up to see James shoot a murderous look at Sirius before looking back to Lena who was currently inquiring about any factions that had been formed for the purposes of the war.

"Lily and me." James raised his hand and looked over at her almost as if he was waiting for her to agree. Did he think she had changed her mind about teaming up with him?

"Ya. Just call us 'Team Unbeatable' 'cause you lot haven't a chance in hell at beating us." Lily shrugged with what she hoped was nonchalance and grinned over at James. His answering wink made her stomach flip.

" Alright 'Team Big-Ego' it is." Lena rolled her eyes as she wrote down the new name for the team. "I think I would like to work with you Peter. What do you say?"

"Sure, I suppose." Peter cowered a little. Lena could be lethally competitive when it came to sports of any kind, and her teammates usually caught the brunt of her fury if she ever lost.

"Brilliant! 'Team Awesome'" Lena looked pointedly over at Remus and Clare. "You two will be teaming up." She decided for them. Clare looked like she was about to say something but caught herself and let a delicate frown settle on her features, while Remus just shook his head in exasperation. "No questions. 'Team Clueless'. .. and what about you Black?"

"I am a lone ranger Evalena my dear." He swept a quick bow and began to back away from the circle. "I work with no one. I assume that you each have your bag of balloons. Now remember no magic. I'll know if you use it. Let the games…BEGIN!"

**a/n r&r. this is gonna be a 2-shot but that all depends on the response. **


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